Hour 3

How to access a security cam without a static IP, where to get the best price on smartphones, could an external hard drive be affected by malware? Recommendations for rugged laptops, easy ways to share downloadable photos and videos, what to do with the 'windows.old' folder, and more of your calls.

Audience Questions

Audience QuestionsHour 1

After a bad paper jam, Anne's computer won't print anything to her printer. She can print a test page from the printer itself, though. She went to "Devices and Printers" and saw a warning that there were problems detected with the Synaptics HID device. Leo says that's actually her trackpad. Then she had a warning message that said that "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems." This could be related to the Synaptics failure. Leo thinks she may have some hardware failure on the motherboard.

Before leaping to that confusion, Leo suggests uninstalling and reinstalling the printer through Control Panel. She doesn't need to use the software that she got with the printer, the computer should auto detect the driver and download it when she adds it. If not, she can go to the printer manufacturer's website, in this case hp.com, to get the drivers. She could also try plugging the printer into a different USB port and see if another one works. If that doesn't fix it, then this could be a larger issue with the USB hub of the computer.

Lastly, Leo suggests looking at the Device Manager. She can right click on "My Computer" and select "Properties." Click the "Device Manager" tab, and make sure there's no red X's or yellow triangles. Those indicate driver issues. If that's the case, she'll want to right click them, delete them, and then restart Windows and Windows should reinstall the drivers.

Lorna has an iPhone 6s and wants to know if she should upgrade to iPhone 7. Leo says there's not a lot of difference. Sure, she can get the dual lens camera in the 7 Plus, but the camera is about the same otherwise. It's a little faster. If she has the monthly payment plan that allows her to swap it out for a new one, then sure. Why not? But if she has to buy a new one, Leo says she can wait until next year. If it's been two years, then by all means get it. It's 60% faster than the 6 and 6 Plus.

Lorna wants to know if she can get a new laptop and use it as a desktop. Leo says yes. She can always plug it into a bigger monitor at home. She could also get a dock which will charge it and connect to a monitor and keyboard without having to connect cables. It's a great option. Dell makes a good one. Microsoft has one with the Surface Book laptop, but it's not cheap.

Richard has a security cam in his home in another state and he wants to know how he can access it and monitor what's on it with a dynamic IP address. Leo says that DynDNS will enable him to do this without requiring a static IP. Other options include No-IP DNS and Duck DNS. His router may also be able to do to it.

Richard also wants to know if there's a good satellite internet service. Leo says he can get satellite broadband through WildBlue, but it's not cheap and requires buying special equipment. Another option is LTE cellular service. Often times, it can be even faster than cable. There's also WISP (Wireless Internet Service Providers).

There are a number of carriers that are WISPs, or Wireless Internet Service Providers. They often use radio or microwave signals. Microwave requires line-of-sight, so he could put up a tower and get very fast internet. Satellite should be the last resort.

Eric is looking to pick up a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge for his wife. Leo says it's a really nice phone and since it's a bit older, he can get it for a good price. Is $795 good? Leo says that's $50 less than when it was introduced. He saw it at $650 unlocked. Leo says since Eric is with Verizon, he'll have to get it supported by them. Leo advises going to Amazon Wireless. He could shop around, but the question is, will Verizon support it? Leo also advises Expansys.

Wallace took his computer into a repair shop, and now he's concerned that they could have put monitoring software on his computer. This is a legitimate concern, and often times it happens remotely with people calling that claim to be from Microsoft or something. If someone has physical access to the system, though, all bets are off. Taking a computer into a repair shop is an absolute act of trust. There's not much he could do about it, though, if he needed to bring it in. There's no certification process or national organization of computer techs, so he'd just have to trust them.

One thing to try before taking it in for repair is wiping and reinstalling Windows first. There are bad things that can be done that would survive a reformat, though, if he wants to be really paranoid. The best thing that he could do is make sure to check the Yelp reviews and make sure its a reputable place.

Audience QuestionsHour 2

Naomi is ready to get a Good Nexus Android phone along with Google Fi. Leo says that Google's new phone is going to be the Pixel, not the Nexus. So Leo would advise waiting until they are announced. As for Google Fi, Leo is a total fan. $20 for unlimited voice, text and then it's pay as you go for data at $10 a gig. Google Fi won't work with Verizon without roaming, though. The chatroom says that the Nexus 6P does work with Verizon, but not through Google Fi.

Dan is a Nexus user and he recently bought a Chromebook from Dell. Leo says Dell makes a really nice Chromebook. Can he mimic the phone to his Chromebook? Leo says he won't be able to make phone calls on his Chromebook, but he will be able to get the Google Play store for the Chromebook which will support any Android app. It should happen pretty quickly too, as Google said they will do it this month. He'll want to have a Chromebook with a touch screen, though.

Keith got bit by a computer virus and it corrupted the Master Boot Record. Leo says that's pretty scary because even if he wiped his hard drive and started over, the virus may still be there. Can the virus infect an external USB drive? Leo says no, unless he made it bootable. The irony is, we don't use Master Boot Records anymore -- they're a holdover from a bygone era. He'll want to be sure all his apps are up to date. Browsers, readers, Windows, the works. He can keep his antivirus updated too. Keith should still remember his best defense is his own online behavior.

Mike says that Carbonite has created a new service for an additional $10 for mirror imaging. It's a great value. Leo agrees. Being able to restore from an off site image can be beneficial no matter where he is.

Mike downloaded an app from Downloads.com and now he keeps getting other apps added. Leo says that's why he should never, ever download from a third party site because they always add other stuff. It's how they make money and Leo says it's akin to malware.

(Disclaimer: Carbonite is a sponsor)

Audience QuestionsHour 3

Von wants to know if the Panasonic Toughbook is legit. Leo says they're not only legit, they're MilSpec, which is the toughest standard there is. The tradeoff is that they're pretty heavy. One alternative is the Dell XPS. It's not nearly as durable as a toughbook, but it's a solid laptop. Just don't drive over it.

Von has also gone through three iPhones in a year. One was his own fault. He wound up switching to an LG Vista. Leo says that LG makes a great phone. The G5 is very nice and a great upgrade. The G5 was also the first to do the dual camera array like the iPhone 7.

Leo says Google Photos is a great place for this. He could share an album with anyone in a couple of different ways. There's 'read-only', where people can see the photo or click the sideways ellipses and download the image or movie. He could also set up an album that people can contribute to. Then at the event, he could tell people to submit photos to that album.

A lot of professional photographers use SmugMug. He could set up a special page with a password. Then, people could not only download photos, but SmugMug has a store. People could order a t-shirt, coffee mug, poster, and more.

He could also use Flickr for this, which offers 1TB of free photo storage.

Steve has a laptop running Windows Vista. It was running pretty good until last week and then he updated to Windows 7. It created the sub directory for Windows.old. Can he get rid of it? Leo says he can simply delete it. The best way to get rid of it is through the Windows Cleanup tool. That will get rid of it plus other files like temporary files, clearing cache, cookies, etc.

This Week in Tech News

Sending unsolicited text messages is bad form, and Facebook got caught using their 2 Factor Authentication database to send out ads and other notifications.

Facebook admitted their faux pas and apologized. Leo says that's become the modus operandi of Facebook: move fast and break things, then apologize. In other words, better to ask forgiveness than ask permission.

Samsung has been quite vocal about its plans to build a smartphone with a foldable screen in it, and we could see that next year with the Galaxy Note. On the front it will look like a regular smartphone, but then you'll be able to open it up to a 6 or 7" tablet. That will likely cost a lot more, and Samsung has already said it will be raising the price of the next Galaxy S phone, starting at around $850.

Leo got his Apple HomePod this week and he says it's a device that suffers from an identity crisis. Apple isn't selling it as a home assistant like the Echo or Google Assistant, even though it has Siri on it. It's limited in its ability to play music, though. It's slightly better than the first generation Sonos, but not as good as a bonafide stereo system. It's just an expensive speaker for Apple Music via Airplay. It doesn't even work with Bluetooth. If you're not drinking that Kool-aid, there's no sense in buying one.

Leo says that the Space X Falcon Heavy rocket launch, with two boosters automatically landing afterwards, was a triumph of engineering (even though one crashed in the ocean). The fun part was using Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster as ballast with a mannequin dressed in a spacesuit, playing Bowie's Space Oddity on the stereo. What a great test, and the PR stunt of the century for Tesla, with hundreds of thousands watching the live stream of StarMan orbiting the earth before heading off to Mars. Doesn't get much better than that with PR.

The day before the Super Bowl is the biggest TV buying day of the year — even bigger than Black Friday. That's because it's also the end of the model year and they want to clear out the old models to make room for the new models. Leo says that there are some times you want to wait for the latest and greatest, but right now is not that time. LCD and OLED TVs are still dominant and will be for a few more years until MicroLEDs take hold. So if you were waiting, don't! If you have an HD TV and wonder if you should buy 4K, now is the time because of HDR 4K TVs. They have stunning color and dynamic range. Prices have come down to the point where there's no time like the present.